Here’s a look at some of the new enhancements you can expect with software update v.2.10:

• Create folders to more easily manage your favorite application icons on the home screen, with up to 10 icons in each folder and a maximum of 100 on the home screen (including icons inside the folders).
• Verify which PS Vita card you are using by looking at the home screen’s info bar. You can also save the layout of your home screen icons in the memory card.
• Added video support allows you to play videos within the browser (memory card required; some videos are not supported).
• New email enhancements allows you to view HTML messages, add multiple email addresses to your contacts, and easily search your messages using the new search feature.
• PlayStation Plus members will be able to automatically update PlayStation Mobile format software and upload game save data onto online storage using 3G connection.
• New “Mute Automatically” option will mute your PS Vita speakers when your headset is unplugged and pause your music when using the music app.

For additional information on PS Vita update v2.10, including how to update your system, please visit this page when the update goes live.

As always, let us know what you think about the new enhancements in the comment section below.

Last week, we honored the PlayStation Vita system’s one year anniversary by giving you—our awesome fans—great discounts on some of our top games. There is still one more day to pick up the first batch of sales titles, so don’t miss your chance to grab award-winning games like Escape Plan, Sound Shapes, and PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale at a big discount.

Launching PS Vita has been a fun journey for us so far, and we’re excited about the many new things we have in store for you this year, including immersive and unique games like Killzone: Mercenary and Tearaway. In addition, we’ll be bringing you new ways to interact with your friends as seen in our recently announced Friend Network.

To continue the celebration this week, we’re pleased to offer a special gift for PS Vita owners—by giving away four classic games for free exclusively in the PlayStation Vita Store! In addition, you’ll also find a brand new set of downloadable PS Vita games on sale at a great discount. The promotion starts tomorrow and runs through March 11th.

Here are the free games we’re giving away for PS Vita:

• Wild Arms (PS one Classic)
• Patapon (PSP)
• Piyotama (PSP)
• Patchwork Heroes (PSP)

Here are the PS Vita games that are on sale for a 30% discount. If you’re a PlayStation Plus member, you’ll get 50% off:

• Army Corps of Hell
• Big Sky: Infinity
• BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend
• Dokuro
• DYNASTY WARRIORS NEXT
• Knytt Underground
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes French
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• LEGO Lord of the Rings
• Orgarhythm
• Pure Chess
• Retro City Rampage
• Sine Mora (with Trial)
• Spy Hunter
• Street Fighter X Tekken
• Sumioni: Demon Arts
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

We also added a few more games to the sale, with the following discounts as noted:

• FIFA Soccer 13 (30% off)
• Madden NFL 13 (30% off)
• Oddworld Strangers Wrath (25% off) (New patch details here)

Also, we want to remind you that the March savings promotion is still going on this week, where you can get $10 back for every $50 you spend using your SEN Wallet! So be sure to take advantage of the PS Vita anniversary sale and the March savings promotion while you can by heading over to PS Store!

What’s your favorite PS Vita game so far? Again, we want to thank you for being a part of the PS Vita community, and we can’t wait to share more about the exciting things in store for 2013.

We’ve had a slew of exceptional new applications hit PS Vita recently, like the otherworldly simulator Ecolibrium, Wake-up Club, and plenty of others. Today, we wanted to unveil two great new applications you’ll soon be enjoying on PS Vita.

Friend Network, already a huge hit in Japan and other territories in Asia, is a unique social application for PS Vita that allows you to interact with friends and meet new people in a whole new way. Guided by PlayStation mascot mainstay Toro, the app lets PS Vita owners visualize their network of friends and gaming buddies through the use of avatars in a colorful environment, and through growing their friends list, players can grow their own unique town space within Friend Network. With the ultimate goal of reaching 100 friends within Friend Network, lobbies are available where players can meet new friends and exchange virtual “business cards.” These cards contain information that players can use to get to know others within Friend Network.

Additionally, Friend Network comes fully integrated with your favorite social networks. Players can connect to their Twitter and Facebook accounts to see which friends are also participating in Friend Network and add them immediately. Players can also request tasks from their friends, like planting crops in their garden, to expand their town yard space. As you can see, Friend Network is a great way to maintain and grow your PSN friends list!

Next up we’re bringing you a one-of-a-kind music application called Imaginstruments. The application offers a slew of musical composition tools to potential PS Vita song smiths to create and manipulate a bevy of sounds and instruments. Our neighbors in Europe have already had a chance to begin crafting songs in Imaginstruments, but we’re now bringing this musical experience to North America.

Players can create whole songs from scratch and save them to on PS Vita memory cards. Using three distinct song creation tools, players can compose a virtually endless amount of unique music. Players can edit drum tracks in the “Passive” mode to create complex rhythms for their tracks, then switch over to “Active” mode to create melodies using instruments like the guitar or violin. The interface has been laid out to allow non-musicians an easy point of entry to create and craft songs without the need of a Ph.D in musical composition. We’ve also included a Sequencer mode, that takes parts of your drum and rhythm sequences to help you construct the song, and then record it. There are plenty of interesting ways Imaginstruments can enable you to begin crafting your very own songs on the PS Vita, and we recommend you try it out for yourself!

Both of these apps will be coming your way this Spring for PS Vita. We look forward to hearing what you think of new applications, and know that we’re always looking for new ways to expand your experience on PS Vita. Also, stay tuned to the PS Blog as much exciting PS Vita digital content is soon to come!

We hope you’ve been enjoying all the new gaming applications we’ve brought to PS Vita recently, like Wake-up Club and the newly released PlayStation Home Arcade. Today we’re excited to tell you about the next one-of-a-kind application you’ll be able to check out next week starting today on PS Vita: Ecolibrium.

Ecolibrium puts you in control to grow and maintain a beautiful and foreign ecosystem. You’ll be able to raise unique and alien species, design the world to your liking, and explore ecosystems yourself using PS Vita’s unique gyroscopic technology. Ecolibrium will also offer Trophy support for you Trophy hunters out there!

Maintaining balance is the key to Ecolibrium. In order to achieve balance in your ecosystem, you must take into account various basic factors, including feeding the creatures, the impact of the seasons and the right proportion of creatures for each link in the food chain. Maintaining balance will net you Ecopoints, which you can spend by purchasing new specimens (animals, plants, etc.) from within the laboratory menu. You can also buy specimens using tokens, which can be purchased in-game.

We will be offering more ways to expand and enhance your ecosystems in Ecolibrium going forward, so keep an eye out for more news on the game in the future. Let us know what you think of this new game app in the comments, and we hope you enjoy Ecolibrium!

Since launch, PS Vita owners have gained access to lots of great applications on our new handheld, and we don’t have any plans to slow down. We’re rolling out a brand new app that brings many classic arcade games, along with a few new titles that were previously available only through PlayStation Home. We call it PlayStation Home Arcade.

PlayStation Home Arcade is available today and serves as a portal for some of your favorite arcade classics like Centipede, Asteroids, and Frogger. We’re also offering more recent titles, like Icebreaker and the very addicting Scribble Shooter, which was previously only available in PlayStation Home. The PlayStation Home Arcade app is a free download in the PlayStation Store, and you can purchase games from directly within the app, starting at $1.49 each. To celebrate the launch, we’re offering Ice Breaker, WipEout 2D and a demo of Scribble Shooter absolutely free!

If you’ve purchased any of the available titles as arcade cabinets within PlayStation Home, you can download these titles again on PS Vita at no additional cost.

The following titles are available today through PlayStation Home Arcade:

We’re constantly looking for new ways to expand PS Vita’s gaming and application offerings and giving you access to the best portable entertainment experience available, so we’re excited for you to check out PlayStation Home Arcade yourself. Let us know in the comments which games you’ll be checking out!

Back in April, we unveiled a host of new applications coming to PS Vita, including Wake-up Club, a new interactive way to start your day with other PS Vita owners. Next Tuesday, the application will be available to download for free on the PS Vita PlayStation Store in North America!

Let’s face it: getting up in the morning isn’t something we usually look forward to, but Wake-up Club adds some social fun into the mix to make getting out of bed more bearable. In addition to adding alarm clock functionality to PS Vita for the first time, including the ability to personalize your alarm tone and background theme, Wake-up Club matches 12 randomly selected players who set their alarm clock at the same time into a—you guessed it—wake-up club!

As soon as your alarm goes off, your avatar will begin bouncing around the PS Vita touchscreen. Tapping your avatar lets other players know you’re now awake. Once in the virtual club room, you can see other players’ avatars, as well as who’s awake and who’s still sleeping. Tapping the sleeping players’ avatars will “cheer” them on. If you happen to keep snoozing though, you’ll notice that the rest of the Wake-up Club players will begin appearing on your screen. Swipe them away and tap your avatar to join the rest of the group. Additionally, you can send friend requests and find out more information about each player by tapping their avatar. Make sure to check out your club records to see how many times you’ve managed to wake up within five minutes, how many consecutive successes you’ve managed, and the average time it takes you to wake up.

To get set up with Wake-up Club, access your PS Vita system’s Settings menu, choose Date & Time, then Date & Time Settings. Ensure that Set Automatically is ticked. Then you’re good to go! Be sure to check out Wake-up Club when it launches on the PS Vita PlayStation Store next Tuesday, January 15th. Happy snoozing!

• Subscriptions and channels: Now you can view and manage your subscriptions (including your subscription to the PlayStation YouTube channel), browse all videos on a specific channel and check out detailed information in the “About this channel” menu option.
• Improved controls: We’ve added new functions on controls including Next/Previous buttons, a loop video option and the ability to browse videos while another is playing, making it easy to select preferred videos without interrupting playback.
• Playlist settings: You can now create playlists and add videos to your playlists, including your Favorites or Watch Later lists.
• Closed captions: Captions help deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers enjoy YouTube videos, and they’re also useful if you forgot your headphones and want to watch videos in a loud (or quiet) setting while on-the-go. Now you can display closed captions when playing videos. Look for the captions icon on the video thumbnail. You can even change the language of captions in the options menu.
• Continuous playback: In the settings menu, you can now enable continuous playback, so your next video selection will start to play automatically.
• PS Vita buttons: You now have the option to use the PS Vita buttons to control playback and menus, which can be enabled in the Settings > System menu.
• Share: Show that you’re tuned in—Tweet, Email or group message your friends the name and URL to the latest video. You can also invite people to check out any channel on YouTube — like the the PlayStation YouTube channel — via group message, so they don’t miss a beat.
• Improved search: You can now use search filters — sorting by upload date or duration, for example — making it easier than ever to find your favorite videos.

We’re thrilled to deliver updates to some of our most popular apps, furthering our promise to bring you the best portable entertainment experience possible on PS Vita. Which added YouTube features are you most excited about?

I teamed up with Ray Bautista, Product Manager of Digital Platforms Strategic Planning to give you a sneak peek at the Instant Game Collection for PS Vita and all of the benefits and features that PS Plus has to offer. Today I’ll walk you through some of the other new features you can look forward to with the system software update, including an email app, the ability to transfer content wirelessly between your PS Vita and PC, and enhancements to the web browser.

With the addition of PS Plus, and such a great lineup of exclusive games launching by this holiday, now is the perfect time to purchase a PS Vita.

As Ray mentioned, PS Plus will offer exclusive discounts and bonus features for both PS Vita and PlayStation 3 members. In addition to online storage for game saves, automatic updates and Trophy synching, PS Plus members will get access to the Instant Game Collection, a constantly updated library selection of games, starting when the PlayStation Store updates on Tuesday, November 20th.

Once you update your PS Vita to v2.00 and PS Store publishes next Tuesday, PS Plus members will be able to download the Instant Game Collection, which includes PS Vita games Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Jet Set Radio HD, WipEout 2048, Gravity Rush and Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack!, as well as (PSP) PlayStation Portable hit Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.

Don’t forget that PS3 users with an existing PS Plus membership will be able to enjoy PS Plus features and services on both PS3 and PS Vita systems at no additional cost. You will be able to choose between the two subscription options — a three month plan for $17.99 and a one year plan for $49.99.

For more information on System Software Updates, please visit this page, which will provide additional details on v2.00 when the update goes live.

As we continue to create more exciting applications and services for you to enjoy on your PS Vita, we‘re looking forward to introducing you to an interactive game we’ve crafted with you in mind – Frobisher Says!. This quirky party game, available exclusively on PS Vita, will make its debut on October 23rd.

Obey the rowdy and childish demands of a peculiar little man named Frobisher. You may find yourself poking otters with sticks, delivering puddings, drawing on eggs or smiling at ladies. With Frobisher, anything is possible.

The application is composed of more than 50 fast-paced minigames, each unique in style and designed specifically to change alongside the art as the games move along. Frobisher Says! is intended for you to use the full range of features the PS Vita has to offer, such as front and rear touchscreen, six axis motion sensor to manipulate the game’s environment, and the front and rear cameras to create augmented reality.

Up to eight players can play these crazily entertaining games in addition to the single-player mode. Be sure to check out Frobisher Says! when it becomes available as a free download on the PlayStation Store next Tuesday, October 23th.

We’ve got some great news for PS Vita owners today concerning Remote Play, the application that enables you to interact remotely with PS3 using your PS Vita and a Wi-Fi connection. Starting today, PS3 owners will be able to download an update for God of War Collection and Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection that will enable these classic games to be played from their PS Vita using the Remote Play function.

So what does this mean? It means you’ll be able to enjoy two classic HD collections almost anywhere, whether you’re around your PS3 or not, from the comfort of your PS Vita and a Wi-Fi signal. Both collections include customizable control options, so you can choose to have the R2 and L2 buttons from your PS3 mapped to PS Vita’s rear touchpad. This is great news because God of War, God of War II, Ico, and Shadow of the Colossus represent some of the most beloved and acclaimed titles in videogaming — and both collections look stunning on PS Vita’s brilliant 5” OLED screen.

To access the Remote Play functionality for both God of War Collection and ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection, you’ll need to download patches for each game on your PS3, at no extra cost. Once you download each patch and try out Remote Play for yourself on PS Vita, be sure to let us know what you think!

In addition to playing selected games remotely, the Remote Play feature enables you to access music, videos, and photos stored on your PS3 through your PS Vita. For instructions on how to set up your PS3 and PS Vita for Remote Play please visit our guide here.